diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yaml b/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
index 2280c06fa..bac301924 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
@@ -22,7 +22,9 @@ jobs:
 
   bazel:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    container: gcr.io/gapic-images/googleapis-bazel:20210105
+    # Not using a container. The ubuntu-latest has Bazel 4.2 installed as of
+    # November 2021. gRPC 1.42 requires Bazel 4.
+    # https://github.com/grpc/grpc-java/pull/7598
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v2
       - uses: actions/setup-java@v1
diff --git a/dependencies.properties b/dependencies.properties
index 694d56ee3..5d5d2cf1c 100644
--- a/dependencies.properties
+++ b/dependencies.properties
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ version.gax_httpjson=0.92.1-SNAPSHOT
 # with the sources.
 version.com_google_protobuf=3.19.1
 version.google_java_format=1.1
-version.io_grpc=1.41.0
+version.io_grpc=1.42.1
 
 # Maven artifacts.
 # Note, the actual name of each property matters (bazel build scripts depend on it).